South Korea's Years of Lead: birth pangs of democracy of its demise?

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

Former President Park Geun-hye, who is facing the corruption charges in the ongoing trial, was arrested on Mar 31 for the “potential risk of destroying evidence.” On Oct 13, the Seoul Central District Court has issued an additional six-month warrant on the same ground. Park’s detention will be extended to April 16, 2018 to the maximum.

Speaking of the evidence that the persecutors believed could have been destroyed, I must point out that throughout the six months putting behind bars Park and the Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong who was accused of offering bribes to her, the persecutors have not found any smoking gun to prove them guilty. Instead, the persecutors have used their creativity to invent a new concept called “implied solicitation” to demand a prison term of 12 years for Lee; the first trial has convicted him 5 years at the first trial.

This trial is shameful. Let me clarify beforehand that I am not a Samsung fan, and Lee won’t reward me with a dime for saying it: this trial has brought disgrace on South Korea as a civilized nation. I know some Koreans do not appreciate Samsung. It is understandable they want to see the humiliation of a rich man. But this is not a professional wrestling but a court of law where only hard evidence counts. Since when did the persecutors and judges begin to read the defendant’s mind to trace the “implied” criminal intention? I thought the pre-crime was only a fictional concept of a Sci-Fi film but South Korean jurists have introduced it to a real trial. Only two hypotheses can explain a court that does not count hard evidence but relies on mind reading: either the persecutors and judges all together should receive a psychiatric evaluation or the judiciary branch is not neutral. Given that President Moon Jae-in has addressed in this inauguration speech his eagerness to intervene in the management of Samsung and other chaebols to “reform” South Korea’s economic structure, the conviction of Lee Jae-yong indicates us that in South Korea, the judiciary branch is under the influence of the executive branch.

Now the “Mind Readers” of the judiciary branch have extended Park’s detention, ignoring the controversies raised on the detention conditions and the claims of human rights violation against her. I highly doubt there is any evidence left for them to find by next April. Perhaps the Mind Readers already know it will be extremely difficult to prove Park guilty. Nonetheless, they still need to keep Park behind the bars until April; the worst scenario for Moon Jae-in and his henchmen is, following the release of Park, the legal grounds of the impeachment are questioned, and naturally the legitimacy of Moon’s presidency is shaken. Then why next April? It is because the Winter Olympic Games will be held in PyeongChang next year. Certainly, Moon needs the Olympic Games to be globally recognized as the legitimate leader of the Republic of Korea. Until then, Park must be jailed.

I am not a mind reader but I know the Moon Jae-in administration needs more funds for the preparation of the Winter Olympic Games. As a matter of fact, Moon himself has openly expressed his concerns for the insufficient funds. Since the heir of Korea’s largest corporation is jailed for the “implied solicitation” behind the sponsorship for horse riders, however, only a handful of corporations stand up for the event that Moon deems as his most glorious propaganda tool. In a horrendous irony of the pot calling the kettle black, the new government is directly asking businessmen for sponsorship than its predecessor ever did: the Korean Electronic Power Corporation and other 11 energy companies have announced to donate 80 billion KRW (equivalent to 75 million USD) to the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Games. For your reference, the alleged amount of the bribe Samsung offered Park is 7 billion KRW.

It is a desperate time for the Korean Peninsula. Moon is definitely the most desperate man in the act; his foreign policy literally crumbled and the economy is heading to a new recession. It is not a surprise that Moon employs desperate measures under such a desperate situation. Who could ever imagine the implied criminal intention would bring about 5 years in jail? Now the Mind Readers have silenced Park Geun-hye for another half a year. The 2018 Olympic Games will make a perfect stage for Moon.

But they will not be able to silence the Koreans who will gather at PyeongChang to demonstrate their agendas, to hinder the international press from hearing their voices, and to prevent the Koreans from reviewing the question of “implied criminal intention.” Until that moment, the Mind Readers, I recommend you to spend one of your hard-won holidays to watch Minority Report and ponder how the movie ends.